Heathrow cannot guarantee that the type of disruption which saw 400 flights
cancelled last Friday will not happen again following snowy weather, the
airport's chief executive has said.

Colin Matthews said it would be "dishonest" to promise a similar situation would never occur again.

Hundreds of passengers were forced to spend the night at the airport after 37 per cent of flights were cut following heavy snow in London.

"I am sorry for passengers caught up in disruption at Heathrow over the past few days," Mr Matthews wrote in a column in the Times. "I would like to promise that it will never happen again. But I can't do that because it would be dishonest."

Mr Matthews said that because Heathrow acts at capacity every day, flights cannot be rescheduled to arrive or leave later in the day if they are held up because of snow.

He said: "While other airports can move flights to gaps later in the schedule, Heathrow cannot. It is full all day, every day – which is exactly why we have argued for the need for more capacity at London's hub airport."

"No matter how many snow ploughs an airport buys, no matter how many people it has on shift, no matter how good its planning, there are some physical limitations we have to accept. That is not to make excuses. It is simply a statement of fact."

Yesterday Heathrow was forced to cancel around 40 flights, while approximately 175 – 10 per cent of the day's total – were cancelled on Monday.

In December 2010, Heathrow was widely criticised after hundreds of flights were cancelled following snow and terminals were packed with frustrated passengers, some of whom were forced to sleep on the floor. The disruption was estimated to have cost BAA £20 million.

Mr Matthews said Heathrow had performed much better during this year's patch of cold weather.

In 2010, one runway was closed for nearly four days after snow but this time the airport remained open throughout, he said.

The airport has invested £36 million in snow-clearing equipment since then.

He said: "Most people travelling form Heathrow have reached their destination without problem. We will improve our passenger support, making whatever investment is necessary, but I want to be completely honest about what can be delivered at an airport operating flat out".

On the BBC's Today programme, Mr Matthews admitted that the airport needed to provide more accurate and up-to-date information to passengers during times of disruption.

He said: "We're all in this together. We give information to passengers, airlines give information to passengers and there are opportunities to get better and we will continue to do so.

"But it's very difficult when you're faced with last-minute cancellations and the airline doesn't instantly know when the schedule is going to be put back in place."